Page 3865 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 25 September 2019
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been in this calendar year resolved in the affirmative or negative. On that matter, it is not the nature of the motion or motions Miss C Burch has submitted historically to the Assembly, but the nature of what has passed.
For the benefit of members, Miss Burch’s motion on 15 May noted, in clauses 1(a) through (e), the impact that the cancellation of school services has had and called on the Minister for Transport to provide significant data relating to access to buses and patronage times for primary school, high school and college students. An amendment was moved to that motion and was passed by the Assembly. The motion was to omit all words, note the changes to network 19, and further note investment in light rail. It also called on the minister to report back on MyWay patronage, performance of the network and bus fleet capacity.
On 14 August, the motion Miss C Burch proposed highlighted the extent of weekend bus cancellations and the involvement of the Transport Workers Union in staffing levels for weekend services. It called on the Minister for Transport to explain to the Assembly what the government was doing to improve the provision of real-time information and provide an updated weekend timetable that reflected the actual availability of bus drivers by midweek, prior to the weekend.
Again, this motion was amended in two parts. There was an addition of “notes” by Mr Steel which sought to add some additional information around the number of weekend services that were operating and the addition of some rapid services. Then there was a further amendment to omit all words and insert “calls on” items by Ms Le Couteur. Ms Le Couteur called on the minister to release an action plan on what actions would be taken, better ways of examining how time and cancellation information could be passed on to passengers, better ways of notifying passengers of cancellation services, and what matters were being done to improve weekend driver numbers. That was passed, as amended by the Assembly, on 14 August.
I draw members’ attention to note (c) of Miss C Burch’s motion as it stands on the notice paper today:
… despite having full knowledge of the list of cancelled weekend services well in advance, the Minister for Transport has refused to publish these cancellations in advance …
That goes to the motion in August, in which the minister was asked to better notify the public.
1(d) makes a comment on the transport action plan. Again, that is a product of the motion passed on 14 August. It then makes further reference to the impact that continued cancelled school services are having and what the data suggests about school service patronage. That is a derivative of the motion in May.
In considering that, members should also pay attention to your ruling and your inconsistent application of this practice from the House of Representatives. On 14 April this year, you ruled in relation to a matter of public importance that related to
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